President-elect Donald Trump blasted the United Kingdom’s Energy Profits Levy on Friday after a Texas-based oil firm announced it would prematurely leave the North Sea over the so-called windfall tax.
The oil firm Apache announced in November that it would abandon its operations in the sea just north of the UK after examining the economic consequences of the levy, in addition to new UK rules that would require new emissions control investments on any facilities that operate in the North Sea past 2029.
The American oil firm will leave the region by December 2029, Apache said.
In a statement to Truth Social on Friday, Trump declared that the levy and emissions control investments were only detrimental to the UK.
“The U.K. is making a very big mistake,” he said. “Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!”
The president-elect was apparently referring to British initiatives to move energy companies away from fossil fuels and toward green alternatives, such as wind energy.
John Christmann, chief executive of Apache’s parent firm, APA, on Nov. 8 said the decision to leave the North Sea came “after six months of evaluation,” according to the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Congress.
“We have concluded that the investment required to comply with these regulations … coupled with the onerous financial impact of the Energy Profits Levy makes production of hydrocarbons beyond the year 2029 uneconomic,” he said.
In a statement at the time, Apache said that “the onerous financial impact of the EPL, combined with the substantial investment that will be necessary to comply with regulatory requirements, makes production of hydrocarbons beyond 2029 uneconomic.
“Looking forward, our focus will be on maintaining asset safety and integrity as we prepare for the responsible decommissioning of our assets.”
